Conveyer



Aug. w, ma.' 1,595,565 r I N. A. NEWDICK CONVEYER 5 Simms-sheet 2' FiledDep.k ll, 1922 S NN 1 @l sg a I I me/nto@ jWZ-Uzj n/dick belt ofimproved construction, and having Patented Aug. ie, rezo.,

STATES rATENT "hiORflON A. NEWDICK, F COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THECOLODER COMPA'Y,

OE CLUMZBUS, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF 1DELAWABE'V "coNvnYEn Applieation.filedv December 11, 1822. Serial No. 606,228.

This invention relates to improvements.

in conveyers, a-nd is especially directed to -conveyers of the typeemployed in connection withloading machines of a character adapted forthe loading of coal orother l loose materials. n

.ln ,accordance with the invention there is provided a loading machineformed to include an elongated inclined conveyer having substantiallyflat horizontally extending upper and lower extremities, the upper orrear extremity of said conveyer being piv otally mounted so that thesaid conveyer .may swing horizontally back and forth across the ioo'r ofa mine or other surface, with the forward extremity of said conveyer inengagement with the licor and the said conveyer being provided with anendless projecting `laterally therefrom a plurality of fiights, whichupon the' operation of the belt are advanced toward and into engagementwith the materials to be loaded, drawing such materials upon andadvancing the same longitudinally through' either one side or the otherof the conveyer and discharging the, saine from the elevated end of theconveyeninto other suitable means for re moval to appropriate points ofdischarge.

Amongthe objects of the-invention are to provide A gathering conveyer ofthe character aforesaid wherein the endless belt thereofis constructedto possess exceptional strength,` durability, land wearing qualities soas to be capable of successfully withstanding the stress and wearimposed thereon by the'laterally projecting flights. and

the materials engaged and advanced there' by; in constructing the beltfor travel in d longitudinal guides formed in connection v-f'fthevarious u nits` of the beltso that the Y, 'latter may be adapted tothe-configuration of the guidesv and the vertical bends-there'- in; informing the` belt so that the latterl may properly `mesh -with and passaround drive. sprockets situated at the ends of the' guides; in formingthe belt to include rollers or' other ample friction means for the .pur-

ose of.. minimizing friction between said elt and the guides throughwhich it passes,

y and inthe, provision of-'various other improveniente to be hereinaftermore "fully described and pointed out.

thev conyeyer and in flexibly uniting f a part of. this specification,and in which similar characters of reference denote like andvcorresponding parts, throughout the several views thereof:

Figure l is a side elevation of a loading machine provided with theimproved con,- veying means comprising the present invention. l y

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view talren through thegathering conveyer of the loading machine and disclosing moreparticularly the construction and arrange mentl of the endless beltcomprising the present invention.

Figure 8 is a vertical transverse sectional View ltaken through thebelt, the guide.

In the accompanying drawings, forming through which it moves, andassociated.

flightconstruction.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional viewi takenv through the belt anddisclosing more par-.

ticularly the action of the belt in passing aroundl one of the verticalbends in the guide therefor.

- Figure 5 is a plan view partly 1n section,

of the belt and co-operativeflights.

Figure 6 is a detailed perspective view of one of the flight anchoringblocks of the belt.

. Figure 7 is a perspective view of the wear links of the belt;

Figure 8 is a detailed perspective view of one of the wear blocksemployed in the uniting of the end ring links of the belt with theflight anchoring blocks.

Figure 9 is a perspective 'View of one of the flights of the belt.

Figure, 10 is -a vertical transverse sectional view taken through one ofthe flights.

Referring more 'particularly to the specie details of the invention, thenumeral l designates a loading machine of the type particularlydisclosed and claimed in my co-pend ing application,'Serial No. 439,092,filed January 22,' 1921, and which type of machine has been selected tomore completely illustrate the present invention, although it will bekunderstood, as the description proceeds, that the invention may beembodied in loading machines of other types or maybe used in connectionwith conveyin structures other than loading 'machines. owever, forpresent purposesthe machine 1 may be broadly described as con-l sistingof a truck 2 provided with wheels 3, and arran ed to travel upon atrack-way 4, a `motor 5 eing mountedupon the forward end of the truclrfor imparting power to the wheels 3, sov that ,the machine may op-'crate under its own vpower-over the trackway 4. Pivotallylsupportedupon the truck l is a bed plate, which carries a vertically arrangedsupporting member 7, upon which is mounted the elevated horizontallyextending rear end 8 of a gathering convey- This conveyer consists of astructural sheet metal frame formed to include a. bot-v tom 10 andupstanding sides 11, the lower end of thebottoni terminating in aflatdee pressed nose extension 12, which is adapted to rest upon lthe floorof'a mine at a position vin advance of the truck 2, whereby uponswinging the conveyer 9 bodily in -a horizontal plane about the verticalpivot'` provided by the member 7, the nose ex- 'tremity 12 of saidaconveyer will be caused the floor and to be thereby main` tained 1nvengagement with materials to be lloaded over a range afforded by thelength to sweep vertical leg of the angle bar 15 there is atto provideacontinuous slot in the guides` tached a lighter angle bar 16, which has'its horizontal leg arranged to project laterally and outwardly from thebar 15 in aplane appreciably s aced from andabove the bottomy 10. To t ehorizontalleg of the angle bar- 16 there is secured the horizontal legof a third angle bar 17, which latter has its vertical leg arranged in'depending relation from the bar 16, and spaced outwardly andtransversely from the main angle bar 15, the vertical leg of the anglebar 17 being terminated in spaced relation from the bottom 10,

14 as a whole. Also, the guides include a Hat metallic strip 18, Iwhichis secured upon the upper surface of the bottom 10 and is locatedimmediately beneath the lower terminating edge of the vertical leg ofthe angle bar 17. These angle bars in combination with the strip 18provide a rectangular enclosure through which is adapted lto' pass theoppositeV runs of an endless conveying belt 19, comprising a salientpart of the present invention.

The belt 19 is mounted for travel through the guides 14 and is arrangedto rest upon the upper surface of the bottom 10, and by being thuslocated it will be apparent that the going and return runs of the beltwill Lacasse be located in corresponding planes.A ln its Figure 6. Eachof these blocks is formedv to comprise upper and, lower-bars 21,provided. with registering openings-22 in the oppositel ends thereof,the said bars being united by means of an a ertured vertical web 23.Projecting lateral y and outwardly from-thelower of the bars 21 isaribbed extension 24, which terminates in an up- .standing verticaliiight attaching wall 25,'

which is pierced as at 26for the reception of a bolt 27 utilizedin'detachably connecting with the block 20 a laterally extending 4flightor conveying arm-28. 'In practice the bolt 27 is of a frangiblecharacter, so that in the event-of the flight 28 engaging with more orless fixed vobstructions excessive strains on thebelt 19 will berelieved by. the fracturing of the bolt 27 and the consequent releaseof-the liight 28 under strains.

Arranged to pass through the openings 22 in the ends Vof the bars 21 arebolts 29,

`which have their lower ends headed as at 30, around which are rotatablymounted llat disc rollers 31, which engage with theA bottom 10. Theupper ends of the bolts 29 are threaded and extend above the up `lver ofthe.

bars 21 for the reception of shoul" ered nuts 32, which act to rotatablyreceive fiat disc shaped rollers 32 corresponding to the roll-- ers31,'the rollers 32 being so positioned as to engage. with the sides ofthe guides 14. Between the bars 21 and surrounding. the bolts 29 arewear blocks 33, which receive the end of the ringlinlrs 34 which ieXiblyunite adjoining arranged blocks 20. The links 34 are preferably three innumber, and

preferably .wear blocks 35 are situated be- 7 tween the adjoining endsof the-middle of the links 34 and the end links thereof.

It will be noted that by this construction a uniform pitch dist-ancewill be maintained between the intermediate' of the links 34 and thespaces provided in the anchor blocks 20 midway between the bolts. 29,whereby through the medium of this construction the belt will be enabledto pass around drive and guide sprockets 36, located at the oppositelongitudinal ends of'the guidesf14. Thus not only does the chain v beltpossess anexceptionally strong and rugged construction, but it lendsitself pro erly to the tooth -construction of the sprocli ets36, so thatpower 1 f may be' ,properly and effectively ap lied to said b elt toremote its operation. urthermore, it' wi l be vobserved byl reference t0Figure 4 that the ring'links are of a length that bear such relation tothe vertical curva` 'ture of the conveyer' frame that enables the saidlinks to float between the adjacent anchor blocks without contacting`with either the bottom of the frame 13 or the angle bar 16. )Bylthis-construction wear on the intermediate'ringlinks is precludedbecause of the fact' that the said links do not engage with stationarysurfaces in the guides.

By the construction described it will be manifest that a substantialbelt construction for the.purpose specified is provided,

and a conveyerconstruction -is produced. which is characterized by itslong life and freedom from mechanical disorder. ln the event, however,that a break does occur in the belt, the'said break can be readilycorrected by the construction vof the anchor upper bend.

lbeing preferably located around ther drive sprocket situated at theelevated end of the frame. t

Another important feature resides in lcutting away the bottom lO as at38 at the upper4 bend. of the frame to receive a removable wear plate39, which plate is positioned to receive the wear which would beordinarily imparted to the frame by the action of the belt in flexingvertically around the the event that the wear plate 39 becomes eX- ycessively worn the same may be removed and a new plate substituted inlieu thereof. This avoids the replacement of an entirely new frameorpan. Similarly, the angle bars 16 at the lower end of the frame, orwhere theframe merges into the nose extension 12" are cut-away." as at4f), for the reception of renewable wear plates 41. y

It will be observed that the flights 28 project laterally from the chainboxes or guides 14. and are adapted to operate through suitable materialconveying ways 42 provided in said frame 13 between the guides andthesides 11 of saidframe. Manifestly, upon movement of the belt 19,theflights will be caused to travel around the foot or nose sprocket on theextension 12 and immediately adjacent to the floor surface. This pathofmovement enables the flights to be brought into engagement with thematerialsto be loaded so as to draw or advance said materials into andthrough the ways 42, which latter are alternately available in It willbe apparent that in accordance with the direction'of movement of thereversible belt 19, The construction of the conveyer enables themateria-ls to be removed from the floor and elevated to an appropriateheight, which is determined by the horizontal plane of theend 8. 4

In the present instance, materials are discharged from the end 8 intothe flaring walled hopper 43 of a delivery conveyer 44. ThisA` conveyeris mounted upon the bed plate 6,'and since the pivot of the bed plate is`coincideut with the' vertical pivot 7 of the gathering conveyer, itfollows that the discharge end of the gathering conveyer and thereceiving end of the delivery conveyer will be in constant registrationirrespective of therelative angular positions which the two conveyersmay assume with respect to each 'other during the operation of themachine. Thedelivery conveyer terminates in an elevated discharge end 45which overhangs the truck 2, and is constructed to permit of thepositioning of a mineor pit car therebeneath, so that mate-`rials'handled by the machine may be diif rectly discharged into suchcars for removal from the mine.' Two con'veyers provide a loadingmachine of extreme flexibility, and enable the same to operate on curvedtracks from a relatively stationary base.

It will be understood that the gathering conve yeris mounted to swingbodily horizontally about the vertical pivot provided by the supportingmember 7, so'that the gathering Aor receiving end thereof may be kept inengagement withthe work. To swing the frame of ,the gathering conveyerlaterally there is provided thereon a pocketed sheave wheel 46, thepockets of which are received by" a chain', which is -trained throughhawse guides 47 provided in' connection with the-frame 13, and has itsouter ends' adapted. for connection with a lateral anchorage. The wheel46 is rotated by a motor 48, and power devices are situated I betweenthe motor 48 and said sheave wheel to rotate the latter at ap ropriatespeeds and with requisite power. ,l anifestly, upon the rotation of saidmotor, the gathering conveyer may be swung from one side of the tracli-way 4 to the other.

When the machine is being transported over a track-way from one workinglocation to another` a pony truck 50 is placed beneath the forwardend'thereof and pivotally limited therewith by means of a king bolt A51.

When the machine is loading the pony truckl is suspended beneath theframe as shown in tion in this instance are in the form of an integralsteel casting,'the' same being formed to include a vertical Wall 54,Which registers with the Wall on theblocks 20, and is provided with an,opening '55 forV the reception of the frangible boltsv 27 integrally'formed with the Wall 54 andv extend# ing laterally and at right anglesthereto, is a vertical conveyin web 56, shown more particularly inFigures 9 and 10, and this web terminates at its loiver edge indownwardly and outwardly inclined surfaces 57, whicli'are adapted to beforced into and under 'the materials gathered, so that the' flights mayadvance a maximum quantity of such materials at each operation, and atthesame time to offer4 but a minimum of resistance `to the operationofthe belt 19.

It will 'be 'noted that the y.surfaces 57 in conneA tion with the web 56provides in each flight a pocket-58 which possesses a carrying, capacityexceedingthe ordinary straight walled flight, by producing a greater.degree of .frictional drag pn, the materials loaded, and it the sametime minimizingr the resistance which the flights meet W-ith wheninitially engaging the'vvork. The er:-

treme outer ends of the flights may be provided with' bit sockets 59 inwhich bits 60 may be provided, if desired, when the machine 1 is engagedin coal loading operations.

In View of"the'foregoing-it will be seen that the present inventionprovides in a loading machine or other conveying mechanism an endlessconveyer beltotexceptional strength andl durability, one that is able towithstand the high pressures and the complex strains and stressesincident to,

for example, the loading of coal or other heavy materials. The chain isconstructed so as to be conveniently flexible and constantly responsiveto changes inthe line of travel of the'guides-14 and to the peripheriesof the sprockets 36, and furthermore embodying anti-friction means foracilitating the passage of such a relatively heavylbelt through saidguides. The rollers 31 and 32 have their outer peripheral edgeschambered as at 61 so that the saniefare properly adapted to thevertical curvature of theframe 13, as lshown particularly in Figure 4.This` construction enables the rollers to rotatefr'eely Within saidguides Without Wedging. The chain may be readily assembled ordisassembled, making` repairs quick and 'simple to make.

It Will be'noted that whenl the tlightsQS i. l

are advancing materials upwardly through -reither one or the other ofthe inclined Ways :42, of' the conveyer 9, the load on'said flightstends to twist the same, and this laction' is taken care of readily by.the rollers 31 and r'ied by said chain, and reneviable Wear stripsprovided in connection with said chain guides. 7 v

2., In a loading machine, an elongated inl clined conveyer terminatingat itsI upper and lower en'ds in horizontal extensions, tltain guidescarried bygfsaid frame and conforming to 'the contont-gthereof, anendless transmission chain varranged. vto 'travel through said guides',and renewable'l Wear plates formed in connection with said guides andsituated at thejunctures ofthe in clined portions of said frameI With,the hori- Zonta] terminating portions thereof.

3. In a loading machine, af'onveyer com# '13.2', which engage with theangle'bars 15 and risinof an endless transmission chain comv` posed `ofa plurality of flight links, chain links flexibly uniting said' flightglinks, integral lateral extensions. projecting from said flight links,said extensions each te rminating outwardlyA in a vertical Wall, aflight including a vertical Wall arranged for co-operation with thevertical wall of said extension, and securing means passing through saidWalls to unite said flights with said chain. i

4. In a conveyer, Ia flight formed to comprise an integral metallicbody, including a substantially vertically disposed'iveb, down- 'wardlyand outwardly inclined Walls provided at the lower edge of said VWeb,andA serving to produce la material receiving pocket, and means providedat the inner `ends -of said flights forsecuring the latter to aconveyor.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication.

NoRToN A. NEWDICK.v

